Apocalyptic Love (Deluxe CD/DVD)

Wow! This is sure alot different from the last album, and by that I mean even better. Although I really enjoyed the last album, it was kind of choppy with all those guest appearances from so many varied artists. Not this one, no guest appearances, just straight up in your face rock and roll done really well. Slash sounds as good as ever, really sweet licks and awesome solos/ chord progression. I don't understand why quite a few people don't seem to like Myles Kennedy, personally, I think he's great, he has an excellent voice well fitting for the band backed up with good lyric writing. I actually do know what the problem is, "PEOPLE: G&R are NEVER, and I mean EVER going to get back together again! It was awesome when it happened, (trust me, I KNOW, I saw the use your illusion tour in '92) but it's OVER!! Please move on, this is Slash's new band, stop thinking about G&R and enjoy it!" This is one solid band that packs a serious punch! You can tell they've been playing lots together because they have a new, tighter, more elaborate/solid sound that's pretty freakin' awesome. So there ya go friendly readers, I hope this helps, try not getting busted by someone else (like I did) while you're air guitaring, it's embarrassing!! Enjoy! *Just as a reminder, Slash is doing a canadian tour very soon, I'm seeing him here in Calgary on July 17, consult his website for dates, times, and locations!*

On the outlook Slash's second solo effort (and the first one under the exhaustive band name Slash Feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators) Apocalyptic love is in a way much more of a Slash album than the 2010 solo release was, which was more of an experimental album in which Slash was playing with different singers and the result was nothing short of fantastic and ambitious. 'Slash' was one of my favorite releases of 2010 and I enjoyed it and played it a lot that year (and since). Myles Kennedy sang two songs on Slash's solo debut and his vocals fitted the songs very well, I wasn't aware of him or Alter Bridge before and learned about him through that album. Slash announced a tour which would have Myles Kennedy as the singer, I liked his voice but I found myself wondering if he could sing all of Slash's previous bands/projects, Guns N'Roses and of course the new album with different singers. The answer is yes, Myles could handle all vocal duties and proved to be a very capable singer; the 2011 Made In Stoke live album certainly asserts that and more. The self-titled album was interesting because it featured a variety of different singers and more experimentation. Apocalyptic love sees Slash going back towards what is he is known for and thrives on. This one is more raw, back-to-basics and straightforward type of deal with one singer throughout and a more Classic Rock fueled straight ahead Rock N'Roll vibe.

The title track kickstarts the album and is more or less what you would expect from Slash; classic rock styled sound with a nice breakdown not that there's anything wrong with that, it works quite well and the song itself is great. 'One Last Thrill' sees Kennedy going for a Johnny Rotten type of rant, fast paced and with the speedy riff it's one of the faster songs on Apocalyptic Love, something about the punkish-riff and attitude mixed with Myle's vocal delivery. 'Standing In The Sun' has a great summer feel to it, it's slightly on the softer side but it works and ends up as different track with a great 'just chillin'' attitude and was one of the highlights for me. 'You're A Lie' was a good choice of single, it's fast, heavy, catchy and the riff is terrific; the track is explosive and is in your face, only praises for this one. 'No More Hero' has a fantastic guitar riff that makes me happy just by hearing it (actually it sound a little like Sweet Child meets 8 but video games music as weird as that may seem) and a delightful chorus. 'Halo' is one of my favorites and has teeth and attitude, it's been praised by many and the praises have been earned. Myles sounds really great on this one. 'We Will Roam' has a nice chorus going for it and while it doesn't stand out is a very good song as well with a neat solo.'Anastasia' deserves all the praises it's been receiving so far, without a doubt one of the highlight of AL and it starts out with classical with a touch of flamenco flavored guitar building towards another terrific riff and ends up being the great epic of the album at 8 minutes. 'This Life' is more of a solitude song and it works very well at that. I liked the 'devil and me' kind of lyrics here, a tip to the hat of some great blues guitarist. The rest of the album is not bad either, please believe.

The deluxe edition digipack has extra songs. In my opinion 'Crazy Life' should have been included on the album to begin with, it's at least as good the rest and one my favorite songs overall. There's also a DVD that's a making of which offers a pretty cool behind the scenes look. It's a great view of the creating process for fans, it's not 'essential' shall I say but hardcore fans will find this interesting and it's fantastic to see them tune up and work those songs and see them fool around and play. There's also a code for a free Slash Apocalyptic Love T-Shirt (the shirt is 24.99, they ask you to pay for shipping).

Apocalyptic Love is not an outstanding effort and I can't say that it blew me away but it's a very good effort from Slash, Myles & co and there are some tracks here that I will keep playing for some time I am sure of that. There are 13 tracks on the regular version and while none of them are bad, I have the feeling that had the album been somewhere around three tracks shorter it would have been stronger as it runs a tad overlong, sometimes less is more (ironic considering I bought the deluxe edition). Slash's backing band is tight and it seems that he found a stable hard working unit in these musicians and it's apparent that these guys have fun playing together. Slash has a great partner in Myles Kennedy and I'd like to see them do work some more together. With Apocalyptic Love Slash plays the kind of music he loves to play and it clearly works. 4/5 stars.

A good rocking album if you like good rockin music and like slash"s previous stuff you"ll like definitely worth the money and on top of that its a 2 disc vinyl with one red and one white looks really cool